1. Statement of the Technical Field
The inventive arrangements relate to radio frequency (RF) electronic systems and more particularly to RF systems for microwave and millimeter wave communications which provide excellent performance, ease of manufacture and a small footprint.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many communication systems operate in high frequency bands. For example, communication systems operating at frequencies as high as 300 GHz are known. RF signal processing for these signals requires various components such as filters and switching devices. However, existing arrangements for high frequency (e.g. 10 GHz to 300 GHz) RF systems are known to suffer from certain limitations. For example conventional filters and switching systems designed for such frequencies are often based on thin film technology. Such designs tend to have relatively low power handling capability. Moreover, thin film designs also suffer from performance degradation as frequency increases.
Three-dimensional microstructures can be formed by utilizing sequential build processes. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,012,489 and 7,898,356 describe methods for fabricating coaxial waveguide microstructures. These processes provide an alternative to traditional thin film technology, but also present new design challenges pertaining to their effective utilization for advantageous implementation of various RF devices.